Well after, KMUV-TV Channel 31 changed its format to Spanish, it competed with the only other Spanish station at the time, KLOC-TV Channel 19 (now KUVS and also formerly KCSO). Actually KMUV wasn't 100% Spanish, it was more a BILLIGUAL TV STATION (much like KLOC). The Spanish programming was pretty much, NOVELAS, NOTICIAS and PELICULAS (Soap Operas, News and Movies, all in Spanish). They also had some English programming, pretty much RELIGIOUS PROGRAMMING like THE PTL CLUB, JERRY FALWELL and JIMMY SWAGGERT plus some other informational shows. KMUV also had a SUNDAY NIGHT ASIAN BLOCK which consisted of MANDARIAN and CANTONESE CHINESE plus FILIPINO and JAPANESE programming. KMUV was on the air for 10 hours a day MONDAY through SATURDAYS (3:PM-1:AM) and 17 hours on SUNDAYS (8:AM-1:AM). From 1976-1981, KMUV was pretty much a low rated tv station. There was talk of converting part of KMUV into a OVER-THE-AIR-SUBSCRITION-TELEVISION Station, pretty much what they had in LOS ANGELES. It is like PAY TV (like HBO but called ON-TV or SELEC-TV or STAR-TV) with uncut first run movies and sports scrambled and you would need a converter box to unscramble it and pay a monthly fee, but it never happened. Finally in late 1980, NORMAN LEAR decided to sell KMUV to KOPLAR COMMUNICATIONS of SAINT LOUIS, MO. KOPLAR owned a SAINT LOUIS INDEPENDENT TV STATION similar at the time to SACRAMENTO'S own KTXL TV 40 called KPLR-TV Channel 11.
When KOPLAR took over on APRIL 2, 1981, they changed the calletters to KRBK. And on MONDAY, APRIL the SIXTH at 7:AM, KRBK signed on the air, this time as a major challenger to KTXL TV 40 as a GENERAL ENTERTAINMENT INDEPENDENT TELEVISION STATION. To challenge KTXL, They aired mostly KID-VID and OLD CLASSIC RERUNS. KRBK ran an extensive CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING compared to KTXL. KTXL had CAPTAIN MITCH anchoring its kiddie programming at the time from 7:AM-8:30AM and 3:PM-4:PM MONDAY'S THROUGH FRIDAYS. KRBK trumped that card with 2 hours in the morning (7:AM-9:AM) and 3 and a half hours in the afternoon (2:30PM-6:PM) with the likes of THE FLINTSTONES, JOHNNY QUEST, MIGHTY MOUSE, UNDERDOG, SCOOBY DOO and more. The classic TV Shows were MY THREE SONS, BOB NEWHART, GOMER PYLE, GET SMART, BEWITCHED, GOOD TIMES, THE JEFFERSON'S, GUNSMOKE, MAVERICK as well as syndicated New Game Shows like CROSS WITS. As for movies, they kept that to the weekends only as that was KTXL's specialty. It wasn't until around 1982 or 1983, that they added weekday movies. But KTXL wasn't going to lay still. This was war. KRBK would later sue KTXL saying that KTXL was trying to monopolize the best movie packages and best TV series. I never did know what the outcome of that was. KRBK did have a few good HORROR GENRE SHOWS. In December of 1981, KRBK debut a show called DISASTERPIECE THEATRE which was similar to not only BOB WILKINS show but to the late great WORST OF HOLLYWOOD show of KEMO-TV Channel 20 in the 1970's. DISASTERPIECE THEATRE was hosted by Radio Disc Jockey, DUSTY MORGAN. Unlike Bob's show but more like THE WORST OF HOLLYWOOD, DISASTERPIECE THEATRE showed ALL KINDS OF MOVIES, HORROR, SCI FI, COMEDIES as well as ADVENTURES but they were B to Z Grade Movies. They were on SATURDAY NIGHTS from 9:PM-11:PM but later moved to 11:PM-1:AM. DISASTERPIECE THEATRE lasted until around NOVEMBER of 1982, and was replaced by a hostless SATURDAY NIGHT DRIVE IN MOVIE which showed fewer horror movies but EXTREMELY EDITED SOFTCORE COMEDIES from the CROWN INTERNATIONAL PICTURES library. This lasted until 1984 when Horror returned with the hostless SATURDAY NIGHT SHOCKER which lasted until 1986 when that was replaced with KUNG FU MOVIES. When SATURDAY NIGHT SHOCKER debuted in September of 1984, SACRAMENTO had the distinction of having not one, not two, but THREE HORROR MOVIE SHOWS. KRBK had SATURDAY NIGHT SHOCKER while KTXL TV 40 had GASP! THEATRE (both shows HOSTLESS) and KOVR-TV Channel 13 had the syndicated ELVIRA'S MOVIE MACABRE with ELVIRA MISTRESS OF THE DARK. Also KRBK carried such syndicated TV Shows like the original TWILIGHT ZONE, George Romero's TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE, FRIDAY THE 13TH THE TV SERIES, FREDDY'S NIGHTMARES and THE WAR OF THE WORLDS TV SERIES.
As for KRBK, KOPLAR sold it to PAPPAS TELECASTING in 1994 and on JANUARY 11, 1995, changed its calletters to KPWB to reflect its upcoming affiliation to the new WB NETWORK. PAPPAS then sold KPWB in 1998 to VIACOM's PARAMOUNT STATIONS GROUP (later to become CBS CORPORATION) and the calletters were changed once again, this time to KMAX and switched affilations with KQCA-TV Channel 58, with KMAX being the new UPN affiliate. In 2005, CBS bought KOVR-TV Channel 13 from SINCLAIR and it became a duopoly with KMAX. KMAX also moved from its longtime home at 500 MEDIA PLACE (since OCTOBER 5, 1974) to share studios with KOVR in WEST SACRAMENTO.In 2006, with UPN and WB merging, KMAX-TV Channel 31 became the new affilate of the CW. And this concludes the ALMOST DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF CHANNEL 31. I did say ALMOST! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment